There is over 120 Billion dollars of alcohol products (Beer, Liquor & wine) is sold annually in the United States alone. According to the World Health Organization, the US is not even the largest drinking market. The world drank the equivalent of 6.1 liters of pure alcohol per person in 2005, according to a report from the World Health Organization. The biggest drinkers are mostly found in Europe and in the former Soviet states. Moldovans are the most bibulous, getting through 18.2 liters each, nearly 2 liters more than the Czechs in second place. Over 10 liters of a Moldovan's annual intake is reckoned to be ‘unrecorded’ home-brewed liquor, making it particularly harmful to health. Such moonshine accounts for almost 30% of the world's drinking. The WHO estimates that alcohol results in 2.5 m deaths a year, more than AIDS or tuberculosis. In Russia and its former satellite states one in five male deaths is caused by alcohol.
When Alcohol is consumed, be it Beer, Liquor or Wine it is predominantly broken down in one's liver. Blood Alcohol Level increases when the body absorbs alcohol faster than it can eliminate it. Seeing as the average healthy person can only eliminate about one dose of alcohol per hour, drinking several drinks per hour over a few hours will significantly increase one's Blood Alcohol Level. The liver breaks down Alcohol (Ethanol) through oxidation. An enzyme in the liver called alcohol dehydrogenase strips electrons from ethanol to form acetaldehyde. Another enzyme, called aldehyde dehydrogenase, converts the acetaldehyde, in the presence of oxygen, to acetic acid, a nutrient.
Appearing below is the chemical structure of acetic acid.

The COOH radical is typical of all organic acids. As can be seen, there is a double bond between the oxygen atom and the central carbon atom (C═O). When ethanol is oxidized to acetic acid, two protons and two electrons are also produced. The acetic acid can be used to form fatty acids or can be further broken down into carbon dioxide and water.
The liver can only process a set amount of alcohol per hour. The remainder gets “stacked” in the body, which is why people end up experiencing side effects for a prolonged period of time. As rule of thumb, an average person can eliminate 0.5 oz (15 ml) of alcohol per hour. So, it would take approximately one hour to eliminate the alcohol from a 12 oz (355 ml) can of beer. The average person consumes more than 3 drinks per hour in a given social event. This excess can lead to the over taxation of the liver, basic nervous and pulmonary functions as well as blood poisoning and death.